Good news for business and economy as Parliament passes record number of laws

Good news for business and economy as Parliament passes record number of laws

Parliament passes a record number of laws. That's great news for business.

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Rohit Saran

December 30, 2002

ISSUE DATE: December 30, 2002

UPDATED: July 10, 2012 13:54 IST

Unless you are a legal freak you may not have noticed that Parliament just concluded its most productive five weeks of recent times. Between November 18 and December 20, 2002 - the duration of the winter session of Parliament - the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha passed over 35 bills, clearing the badly clogged legislative pipeline.

These include bold new legislations like the one on securitisation of assets and the long pending Biodiversity Act and Competition Act - arguably one of the most significant corporate legislations of recent times. The passage of each law is a step forward in the process of economic reforms.

No doubt, members of Parliament are still sitting over many important bills. The Fiscal Responsibility Bill that puts a ceiling on government borrowing, the Electricity Bill that seeks to amend three acts relating to the power sector, the Sick Companies Bill for expediting the revival of sick companies and the Convergence Bill that seeks to establish a regulator for the information technology and entertainment industries have all been pending for more than a year.

But if the two Houses repeat their performance in the budget session in February 2003, many of these bills could be passed. After all, the reasons for Parliament getting down to business in the winter session will hold true till at least next year.

These reasons were the orderly conduct of the Houses by Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi and Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and good chemistry between the two Ps: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan and Congress' Chief Whip Priya Ranjan Das Munshi. Here are eight key economic legislations cleared by Parliament and what they mean to the economy.

BILL

PURPOSE

WHAT IT DOES

Goodbye MRTP

Competition Bill, 2001

To redefine monopoly and competition

Abuse of market dominance, and not market dominance itself, defined as anti-competitive.

Defines only four types of pacts as illegal, against 14 types listed by the MRTP Act.

Defaulters in the dock

Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets Bill, 2002

To recover part of the Rs 1,00,000 cr in bad debts.

Lenders can seize defaulters' assets held as collateral without a lengthy legal process.

Banks and institutions have to transfer bad debts to a securitisation or reconstruction company.

King consumer

The Consumer Protection Bill, 2002

To strengthen consumer courts, expedite cases

Courts to decide cases within three months; five months if the complaint requires a lab test.

Up to Rs 10,000 fine or three year jail term for non-compliance of court order.